Los Angeles Lakers: Complete grades for the 2019 NBA offseason
Traded for Anthony Davis
The entire NBA calendar now seems like context to the moving of superstar players, not only free agents such as Kawhi Leonard but those still under contract such as Anthony Davis and Paul George.
In a star-driven league, it is worth it to teams to acquire stars any way they can get them, leading to some eye-raising trades over the past few seasons.
The LA Clippers shelled out a historic amount of draft capital (plus a high-end prospect and fringe All-Star candidate) to add George and thus also bring in Leonard. The Toronto Raptors spent on one year of Leonard and earned a title.
The Philadelphia 76ers emptied their trade capital and brought in Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris.
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Los Angeles was unable to bring in a co-star for LeBron James last summer, turning up the pressure to add one at the trade deadline. The organization sprouted dysfunctional leaks throughout as the team tried to negotiate for Anthony Davis, and it wasn’t until this summer that the new top decision maker Rob Pelinka could get the deal done.
The final terms of the trade are staggering, with the Lakers shipping every asset and young player they had outside of Kyle Kuzma to the New Orleans Pelicans and Washington Wizards to clear the needed cap space. In the end, they sent out Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, Isaac Bonga, Moritz Wagner, Jemerrio Jones and a stunning level of draft capital.
In return, they brought in Anthony Davis, a clear top-10 player in the league and perhaps its best big man. Immediately LeBron James has a fellow star, and the ceiling of this team is raised towards championship heights. In the short term, this team is better for having Davis than they would be with their bevy of young talent.
The question is whether this move was worth it long-term, an answer that will depend in large part on how the Lakers perform in the playoffs the next few seasons during the remainder of James’ prime.
A Lakers team banking on the development and better health for the same roster as a year ago was not competing for a title. A Lakers team with James, Davis and whatever they could add with $30 million of cap space is at least in the conversation.
Rob Pelinka’s track record suggests that if this goes south he will not be in his position long enough to feel the bite of those draft picks going out. If the Lakers do put everything together and win a title then the picks will be an acceptable cost.
In the end the Lakers got the best player in the deal, and that matters for something.